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EASILY DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL FFMPEG ON A WINDOWS PC

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Article Summary

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: July 7, 2024 Fact Checked

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This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole
Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years
of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at
major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative
Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing,
and zine-making at various institutions.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and
confirming the authority of its sources.

This article has been viewed 1,875,425 times.

Learn more...

FFmpeg is an open-source media tool you can use to convert any video format into
the one you need. The tool is command-line only, so it doesn't have a graphical,
clickable interface. If you're used to regular graphical Windows programs,
installing FFmpeg may seem complicated at first—but don't worry, it's pretty
easy! This wikiHow guide teaches you the simplest way to install FFmpeg on your
Windows PC.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

* Install 7-Zip first so you can extract the FFmpeg files.
* Download the latest full release build from
https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds.
* Extract the FFmpeg folder, move it to the root of your main drive, and add it
to your system path.

STEPS

Download Article
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1
Install 7-Zip. If you don't have 7-Zip already installed, you'll need it to
be able to extract the FFmpeg files. This tool is free, and you can
download it from https://www.7-zip.org.
* Once you've downloaded the installer, double-click the downloaded file,
then follow the on-screen instructions to install.

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(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
2
Go to https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds. This page hosts the precompiled
FFmpeg binary files you'll need for Windows.[1] X Research source

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(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
3
Click the release builds link. You'll see this in the left panel.

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noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\"
href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
4
Click the link to download ffmpeg-release-full.7z. The full text of the
link is https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ffmpeg-release-full.7z. This
link downloads the latest FFmpeg files to your PC in a compressed format.

5. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/8\/88\/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-5-Version-6.jpg\/v4-460px-Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-5-Version-6.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/8\/88\/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-5-Version-6.jpg\/v4-728px-Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-5-Version-6.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"<div
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href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
5
Extract the downloaded file. Here's how:
* Right-click the Windows/Start button and select File Explorer.
* Click the Downloads folder in the left panel (you may have to click This
PC first to find it).
* Right-click the file that begins with "ffmpeg" and ends with ".7z."
* (Windows 11 only) Click Show more options.
* Select the 7-Zip menu and click Extract Here. This creates a new folder
with the same name as the .7z file.

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href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
6
Rename the extracted folder FFmpeg. To do this:
* Right-click the folder.
* If you're using Windows 10, click Rename. If you have Windows 11, click
the icon of an "A" followed by a cursor at the bottom of the menu.
* Type FFmpeg and press Enter.

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noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\"
href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
7
Click the FFmpeg folder once and press Control+X. This "cuts" the folder
from the Downloads folder so you can paste it into the root of your hard
drive.

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noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\"
href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
8
Click This PC in File Explorer. It's the computer icon in the left panel.

9. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/9\/97\/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-10-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-10-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/9\/97\/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-10-Version-3.jpg\/v4-728px-Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-10-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":346,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":547,"licensing":"<div
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noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\"
href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
9
Click your hard drive. It's usually called "Windows (C:)" or "OS (C:)," but
the name and drive letter may vary.

10. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/27\/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-11-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-11-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/2\/27\/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-11-Version-2.jpg\/v4-728px-Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows-Step-11-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"<div
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noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\"
href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
10
Right-click a blank area of the right panel and select Paste. This moves
the folder to the root of your hard drive.

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noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\"
href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
11
Open Command Prompt as an administrator. To do this, just type cmd into the
Windows search bar, right-click Command Prompt, select Run as
administrator, and then click Yes.

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href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fair_use\">Fair Use<\/a>
(screenshot)<br>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
12
Add FFmpeg to your system path. To do this from the command line, type or
paste setx /m PATH "C:\ffmpeg\bin;%PATH%" and press Enter.[2] X Research
source When you're finished, close the Command Prompt window.
* You've now installed FFmpeg and set the proper environment variables. To
confirm that FFmpeg is working, open a new command prompt window, type
ffmpeg -version, and then press Enter.

EXPERT Q&A

Search
Add New Question
* Question
Isn't the folder path case-sensitive? If you rename it to "FFmpeg" but the
path has "C:\...\ffmpeg\bin", won't that cause an error?
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more
than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading
support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds
an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches
composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
Expert Answer
Windows directory names are not case-sensitive. Don't worry, it'll definitely
work!
Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us
in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with
free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No
Not Helpful 9 Helpful 15
* Question
How can I get WSL (Ubuntu) to recognize this if I've installed it? Works with
Powershell. (Using Windows Terminal)
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more
than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading
support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds
an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches
composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
Expert Answer
If you're using Ubuntu via WSL, you have a couple of options. If you want to
run the FFmpeg binary, you can cd into /mnt/c/FFmpeg/bin (replace "c" if you
put the FFmpeg folder on a different drive letter) and run the command
./ffmpeg.exe (add whichever flags you need), or skip the Windows stuff and
just install the FFmpeg package in an Ubuntu terminal with "sudo apt install
ffmpeg."
Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us
in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with
free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No
Not Helpful 3 Helpful 12
* Question
I clicked the following buttons, ffmpeg.exe, ffplay.exe and ffprobe.exe, they
turned up for a glance then disappeared. What's happened? Thank you.
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more
than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading
support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds
an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches
composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.
Nicole Levine, MFA
wikiHow Technology Writer
Expert Answer
These applications can only be run from the command line. If you try to
double-click them in File Explorer, you'll experience the behavior you've
witnessed. Instead, open Command Prompt, then run the "ffmpeg" command to
view all possible command line options.
Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us
in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with
free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No
Not Helpful 4 Helpful 15

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* FFmpeg is a command line-only program, meaning you can only use it in Command
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